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Prince Harry & Meghan Markle will spend Valentines Day APART as rumours swirl about their ‘separate lives’

MEGHAN Markle has headed home from the Invictus Games in Canada and won’t be spending Valentine’s Day with Prince Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex flew back to California on Tuesday, leaving Harry alone at his competition for wounded and sick service personnel and veterans.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, at the Invictus Games.
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Meghan at the Invicus Games in Whistler, Canada, on Tuesday[/caption]
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games.
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The Sussexes had attended the opening of the Invictus Games together[/caption]

The pair had arrived in Vancouver on Friday before spending two days in luxury ski resort Whistler.

Sources closes to the couple insisted the move was pre-planned so that Meghan could be with son Archie, five, and daughter Lilibet, three.

One source said: “This was always planned. Meghan is going home to be with her children.

“Meghan left the games in Dusseldorf early after five days to go home.

“This is Prince Harry’s event and she is there to support him but this was planned.”

But rumours had already been swirling about Harry and Meghan spending time apart.

And with Valentine’s Day coming up on Friday, questions will be asked about the pair not being together on the most romantic day of the year.

Harry already chose to spend his 40th birthday in September hiking with pals and away from Meghan.

And there has been talk of “professional separation” between the two in recent months too.

Harry is not expected to make any public appearances at the Invictus Games today.

It comes after Meghan shrieked as she tried her hand at tubing on Tuesday.

Despite her husband’s encouragement, the Duchess was heard squealing with fear before racing down the slope.

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‘He isn’t good… he doesn’t hurt anyone’ – Michael van Gerwen destroys Luke Littler’s rival with brutal assessment

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN has brutally taken aim at Luke Littler’s rival Ricardo Pietreczko for “not being very good”.

The German darts ace, 30, infamously squared up to Nuke when he was just 17 at last year’s Belgian Open with a fierce flurry of insults.

Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler shaking hands after a darts match.
Michael van Gerwen took aim at Luke Littler’s fierce rival, Ricardo Pietreczko
Sportsfile
Ricardo Pietreczko and Luke Littler facing each other during a darts match.
Ricardo Pietreczko infamously squared up to Luke Littler at last year’s Belgian Open
Ricardo Pietreczko celebrates a darts match win.
Van Gerwen has bluntly claimed Ricardo Pietreczko is ‘not very good’
PA

The pair have since traded barbs, but Van Gerwen is the latest to weigh in – suggesting Germany need to up their oche game.

Van Gerwen said: “The spectators in Germany are phenomenal. I spend 15 weeks a year in Germany, I like it here.

“[But] Germany needs really, really good players. That’s what’s still lacking.

“[Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens and Florian Hempel] play good darts, but they have to take the next step now. That’s important for a country as big as Germany.

“The next step is, for example, the Premier League of Darts. There is still no German participant there.

“But that would be the next important step.”

When asked about Pietreczko – dubbed Pikachu – after he reached the last 16 of the Darts World Cup, MVG delivered a final, almighty blow.

The Dutchman ranted: “Ricardo isn’t really good. He’s a nice boy, I like him. But he doesn’t hurt anyone.”

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Never shy to ruffle some feathers, Van Gerwen has also taken aim at the Premier League line up, insisting it “could have been stronger”.

MVG said: “It’s an incredibly difficult decision for the PDC to choose the line-up – I think they did well. 

“It’s quite strong but it could have been a little bit stronger.

“I miss one good player – Michael Smith.

“But outside that, it’s eight really good darts players and that’s what people want to see. 

“Moving forward we want to create an atmosphere, too.

“It’s important to be a good player but it’s also how you come on stage and the show you put on. That’s all part of it.

“It’s very hard for the PDC to pick the line-up, but I still think they did well.”

Premier League Darts 2025: Dates and venues

Night 1 – Belfast: Humphries beat Dobey 6-1
Night 2 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow – Thursday February 13
Night 3 – 3Arena, Dublin – Thursday February 20
Night 4 – Westpoint Exeter – Thursday February 27
Night 5 – The Brighton Centre – Thursday March 6
Night 6 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham – Thursday March 13
Night 7 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff – Thursday March 20
Night 8 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle – Thursday March 27
Night 9 – Uber Arena, Berlin – Thursday April 3
Night 10 – AO Arena, Manchester – Thursday April 10
Night 11 – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam – Thursday April 17
Night 12 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool – Thursday April 24
Night 13 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Thursday May 1
Night 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday May 8
Night 15 – P&J Live, Aberdeen – Thursday May 15
Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday May 22
Play-Offs – The O2, London – Thursday May 29

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Major UK airport reveals plans to expand two of its terminals as part of multi-billion renovation

LONDON’S Heathrow Airport is set to benefit from a ‘once-in-a-generation investment,’ that will see capacity at two of its terminals increase.

Under the plans, passenger capacity at Terminal 5 will increase, with the number of aircraft stands set to rise.

Aerial view of Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 gates with several airplanes.
Alamy
London’s Heathrow Airport is set to benefit from another multi-billion investment plan, which will see passenger capacity increase at the huge travel hub[/caption]

Money will also be pumped into infrastructure at Terminal 2, with bus and coach connections improved, and the layout of the airfield also being reconfigured.

Later today, chief executive Thomas Woldbye is expected to say: “This privately-funded programme will upgrade existing infrastructure while laying the groundwork for a third runway, boosting UK investment and economic growth, with tangible benefits felt this year.”

The new investment will build on the airport’s £2.3billion renovation that was announced at the end of last year.

Heathrow’s latest revamp will be 100 per cent privately funded.

Before work can begin, the investment plans need to be approved by the UK Government and other regulatory bodies.

With Woldbye expected to add, “This project can only go ahead if we meet the rules on noise, air quality and carbon that the government sets out in the Airports National Policy Statement.”

If the plans are approved, work will start on infrastructure inside the airport’s boundary.

Heathrow Airport is expected to submit a full proposal to the government this summer.

In addition to its new investment plans, Heathrow Airport will submit a proposal for a third runway to the government later this year.

The news comes just weeks after Chancellor Rachel Reeves backed plans to install a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Despite the Chancellor’s support, concerns over a third runway at Heathrow Airport have been raised by a number of MPs including Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband and London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, regarding environmental worries.

Reeves previously said the expansion would see fewer planes circling London as they attempted to land, which would mean cleaner air.

If a third runway does indeed open at the major London airport, holidaymakers could be hit with more expensive flights though.

Figures show it could cost as much as £20billion to add a third runway to Heathrow.

Airport bosses have asked for the cap on landing fees to be increased, in a bid to help cover the cost of the expansion.

The landing fee cap is enforced by the Civil Aviation Authority and is set over five years.

While this year’s landing charge is set at £23.73 per passenger, it is set to drop to £23.71 in 2026.

Even though airlines pay the cap, the cost is often passed onto passengers who cover the charge when paying for flights.

Reeves’ support is part of a wider plan to boost the country’s economic growth by increasing airport capacity in the southeast of England, with the chancellor also supporting the full-time use of a second runway at Gatwick Airport.

Three other UK airports getting revamped

HERE are three other airports in the UK currently undergoing multi-million-pound renovations.

London Stansted
Last year, London Stansted Airport confirmed its plans for the £1.1 billion renovation. The Ryanair hub will be extending its main terminal. £500million will be put into improving the current terminal and the rest of the airport.

Bristol Airport
A renovation at Bristol Airport will also see its terminal size increase. The £400 million revamp follows a record number of people travelling through the airport, welcoming 10 million passengers in a 12-month period for the first time ever.

Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is currently being revamped. The £1.3billion project was first announced back in 2015, with work being split into two phases.

London Stansted Airport confirmed a £1.1billion renovation, with a £600million new terminal.

And Manchester Airport is currently undergoing a £1.3billion renovation.

Aerial view of Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 with British Airways planes.
Getty
The new investment plan will be outlined in a speech by Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye[/caption]

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Homeowner rips up 70s carpets hoping to find ‘gorgeous parquet’ underneath but instead finds ‘stuff of nightmares’

THERE are plenty of videos on the internet of lucky people pulling back their grubby old carpets to reveal jaw-dropping parquet or tiles underneath.

If you’ve got carpets that are more dated than dazzling, it can be tempting to pull them up in the hopes they’re concealing a treasure.

Hand peeling back old carpet to reveal subfloor.
Holli had hoped to find beautiful flooring underneath her old carpets
Asbestos tiles discovered under old carpet.
Instead, she found tiles that contained a dangerous material

One TikTok user did just that, but was horrified by what she found.

The TikTokker, named Holli, posted a video to her account, captioned “Mate, thing of nightmares, honestly.”

In the video, she can be seen pulling back her old, red carpets to see what lay underneath.

She wrote: “When you were hoping to find gorgeous parquet or tiles but instead you find..”

Instead of the dreamy antique flooring she’d been hoping for, Holli revealed some mysterious dark tiling, which had been chipped to reveal a strange white, powdery centre.

The horrified homeowner claimed she’d stumbled upon “asbestos tiles,” a mineral that can have seriously negative consequences on your health.

Asbestos and the risks

Asbestos was once a popular building material, used widely in homes across the nation between the 1930s and 1970s.

It was commonly used in popcorn ceilings, vinyl floor tiles, drywall and insulation of pipes and attics.

In the 1980s the UK introduced regulations against the use of some asbestos, although its use remained legal until 1999.

Experts at Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, warn: “When materials that contain asbestos are disturbed or damaged, fibres are released into the air. When these fibres are inhaled they can cause serious diseases. These diseases will not affect you immediately; they often take a long time to develop, but once diagnosed, it is often too late to do anything.”

Some of the diseases they warn asbestos can cause, include:

  • Mesothelioma, a cancer which affects the lining of the lungs and the lining surrounding the lower digestive tract.
  • Asbestos-related lung cancer.
  • Asbestosis, a serious scarring condition of the lung.
  • Pleural thickening, which thickens and swells the lining of the lung.

In the comment section, she revealed to viewers that she’d sent the tiles off for testing, to find out if she was at risk.

To her shock, the results came back confirming that the tiles contained 10% asbestos, which left Holli double bagging and disposing of the lot.

Holli had hoped to install underfloor heating throughout her kitchen, which meant she needed to safely get rid of all the dangerous tiling she’d found.

Woman sitting on a couch, looking thoughtful.
Getty
Concerned homeowners shared their experiences of finding asbestos.[/caption]

Shocked viewers react

Viewers flooded the comments with opinions and advice.

“Asbestos flooring, yikes,” squirmed one person.

“Been there. It sucks,” said another who was able to empathise.

“The worst,” groaned another.

“Run,” simply warned someone else.

“That tile is exposed, you need to get that sorted ASAP,” another user chimed in.

But not everybody shared the panic.

“The way I’d tile over and pretend I never seen them,” quipped one person.

“As long as they’re covered they’re harmless… Just don’t drill them or break them up yourself,” another advised.

“I took all mine up, just try not to break them when removing them and they fine, I triple bagged them up and took them to a licensed place,” reassured another.

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